Boulder's Buddhist credit union has been caught up in a possible case of fraud that spans four states and two police departments, and has a California woman out nearly $9,000.

"I'm a cog in the machine," said Ramona Catalanello, of Long Beach, Calif. "I'm just waiting for the players to do whatever they have to do."

Catalanello was in a car accident in California on Oct. 14, totalling her 2010 Ford Escape. Her insurance company, Birmingham, Ala.-based Infinity, assigned agent Chris Bankston as the adjuster.

According to Catalanello, she received an email from Bankston Dec. 18 that a check for $8,445.24 had been sent to her. One week later, having not received the check, she made several attempts to reach out to Bankston, with no success.

"I started calling and calling and calling and calling," she said. "Nobody would ever get back to me."

The same voicemail message would greet her each time: Bankston's voice, saying he was away from his desk or on another call. In early January, Catalanello was reached by Bankston's supervisor, Greg Mitchell, who informed her that the check had already been cashed or deposited at a bank in Boulder: Shambhala Credit Union.

An image of the check in question, sent to Catalanello by Infinity and shared with the Camera, shows an endorsing signature that appears to read "Ramona Catalanello" with an added note: "Pay to the order of Jose Agustin Pena." Another, illegible signature follows.

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Catalanello said none of the writing belonged to her: "They didn't even spell it right."

Shambhala denies receiving such a check. They wouldn't have cashed it, because no cash is kept on premise, said President Alexander Halpern, and a check that large would certainly require identification.

"We don't know anything about this check," Halpern said. "I don't know where this insurance company came up with Shambhala Credit Union. It seems to be out of nowhere."

Mitchell did not respond to multiple requests for comment, via phone and email. But after the Camera attempted to contact him, he sent an email to Catanello in which he appears to suggest that Shambhala was incorrectly named.

"I was just advised by Nancy Ray (with Infinity's insurance department) that some credit unions will use a regular bank to process checks, which is why we initially had Shambhala Credit Union as place of deposit," he wrote, adding that "now we have updated account information" suggesting the check was cashed or deposited at a J.P. Morgan Chase bank in Tampa, Fla.

Ray declined comment. Officials for J.P. Morgan Chase could not be reached for comment.

A spokesperson for Regions Bank, which holds Infinity's account, said the bank had "no evidence to suggest this check was ever actually presented to the credit union.

"We are continuing to review the matter and will take all appropriate steps to resolve the issue in the coming days," wrote Jeremy D. King, with corporate communications, in an email. King declined to answer further questions.

Catalanello has filed police reports in Long Beach, Calif. and Boulder. Boulder Police Department spokesperson Laurie Ogden confirmed an investigation was underway and declined to provide more information or answer questions.

Long Beach's police department said they filed a courtesy report, which is a report taken "as a courtesy for another agency," a spokesperson said.

Catalanello said she had "no faith" that either police department would crack the case.

Bankston did not respond to an emailed request for comment to an address provided by Catalanello. His one-time office number, also provided by Catalanello, no longer contained a personal greeting; the mailbox was not accepting messages.

Infinity never provided proof that Shambhala or any institution received the check, Catalanello said. The check image was absent of any marks that would indicate it was received by a financial institution: typically, an identifying serial number would be present.

Halpern said that Shambhala stamps all the checks it receives. Region's King said not every check would have such marks; checks deposited via mobile devices, for instance, would not be marked.

"All of this seems suspicious to me," Catalanello said. "How would (Infinity) even have known that it was cashed or deposited at Shambhala? I never got an answer to that question."

Mason Wilder, a research specialist with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, declined to comment on the specifics of this case. But he said that smaller institutions are far more likely to fall prey to fraud because they lack resources to uncover or investigate shady dealings.

"A criminal is more likely to carry out fraud at a small institution rather than, say, a Bank of America," Wilder said.

Shambhala's Halpern said the credit union has never before been a victim of fraud, to his knowledge.

"Nobody pays attention to us," he said.

As for Catalanello, Infinity's Ray told her it could take several months to complete an investigation, she said.

"I just have to put my faith in her, and hopefully by 2019 I'll get my measly $8.4 thousand back."

Update: After publication, Ramona Catalanello informed the Camera that Infinity's Greg Mitchell was issuing a new check. Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly gave Catalanello's first name as Rebecca. It is Ramona.

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